Auditor General gives green light for NOC Elections

By Susil Premalal

All arrangements have been finalised for the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Elections scheduled to take place on February 23 at the Olympic House Auditorium at 6 p.m.

The nominations for the NOC Elections would close today (9) at 4 p.m.

NOC Secretary Maxwell de Silva said that all audit reports have been approved by the Auditor General (AG) and the NOC Constitution has also been approved by the IOC.

The NOC Elections are held after a lapse of nine years and the previous elections were held in 2009.

The NOC Elections which was to be held in 2013 was postponed on many occasions due to the controversy with the Sports Act and the NOC Constitution.

However de Silva addressing a media conference in Colombo yesterday said that all issues have been brought under control and the NOC Elections could now be held smoothly

He also revealed that a three-member independent Election Committee has been appointed to monitor the NOC Elections.

The committee includes Dr. R. M. K. Ratnayake, S. Liyanagama and S. Virithamulla who are all former Secretaries to the Minister of Sports.

De Silva said that the NOC will be under the sports law of the Ministry of Sports but would not follow the Ministry regulations.

De Silva said that the NOC has a cash deposit of Rs. 81,670,691.91 (Rs. 81 million) compared to 2009 which was Rs. 6,796,431.92 (Rs. 6 million).

De Silva said that annually they have received a sum of US $ 75,000 for maintenance and administration and a sum of US $ 20,000 for solidarity course.

This is in addition to the sum of US $ 10,000 for the National Associations.

Meanwhile, the Treasurer of the NOC Gamini Jayasinghe said that all transactions were carried out in a transparent way although there were a couple of issues.